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NEWPORT BEACH : Residents Fighting Fast-Food Plans

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A group of residents who live on the Balboa Peninsula are plotting to torpedo what they call a “Big Mac Attack.”

About 15 people rallied this week against a proposal to build a McDonald’s restaurant on a vacant lot on 28th Street and Newport Boulevard, a short walk from residential areas. The protesters said they fear that the high-volume business will disrupt their beachfront neighborhood.

“We don’t want the traffic, the trash and the loitering,” said Juli Cook, 54. “They are probably the biggest corporation on Earth and they can go elsewhere. There are probably a million places they can go.”

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McDonald’s officials are aware of those concerns and have spent thousands of dollars in recent weeks to completely redesign their plans in deference to residents’ demands, said Sharon Collins, real estate representative for McDonald’s Corp. in La Jolla. The restaurant has agreed to live without its trademark yellow arches and drive-through speakers, to reduce its signs from 25 feet tall to 10 feet and to shorten store hours.

“We have even changed the color from gold and red to muted grays and blues,” Collins said. “And you know how strongly McDonald’s feels about its corporate logo.”

Collins said she is frustrated that despite those concessions, residents are making them feel unwelcome.

“We want to be part of the community and address our neighbors’ concerns,” Collins said, adding that she tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting between residents and corporate officials to work out differences. “But they won’t even talk to us on the phone.”

The protesters said even a toned-down McDonald’s is unacceptable.

“They can make modifications, modifications and more modifications,” Cook said. “And maybe they can find something we can live with, but I don’t think so.”

Several other protesters said that they would prefer to see a hardware store or a pharmacy because those stores would not aggravate the traffic problem on Newport Boulevard.

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“The traffic worries everybody,” said Gary DePerine, a resident. “It is already a nightmare down here.”

The City Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on the project at its May 19 meeting.

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